Please note that the submission of a candidate statement was voluntary, so not all candidates listed on the ballot will have a statement.

Candidate: Anna Ingeborg Petursdottir, PhD

Office: President-elect

Candidate Statement:

When Division 25 was founded in 1964, behavior analysis was primarily a field of academic inquiry that included basic, translational, and applied research efforts. The latter efforts were ultimately successful enough that behavior analysis has now grown into a profession that is practiced by thousands and licensed in 29 U.S. states; a profession that is independent of psychology and doing well as such. Its independence, however, in no way implies that the underlying science should divorce itself from other disciplines concerned with the scientific study of behavioral processes. By contrast, my experience as the sole behavior analysis researcher in a psychology department has made me realize the potential value of increased collaboration and cross-fertilization between behavior analysis and the other behavioral sciences represented with in the American Psychological Association (APA). I believe such efforts can serve to strengthen the influence of behavior analysis on other areas of inquiry, as well as to strengthen the foundations of professional behavior analysis practice and protect them from stagnation. With that in mind, if I am elected president of Division 25, I hope to channel effort into collaboration and interaction with other divisions whose members share interests with ours. After examining APA’s division membership statistics, I also hope to recruit more members from newer generations of basic and applied behavior analysis researchers to participate in the division’s activities and commit to contributing to two-way information exchange, along with continuing strong and mutually beneficial representation of behavior analysis within the APA.

Candidate: Matthew T. Weaver, PhD

Office: Member-at-Large

Candidate Statement:

Dear Colleagues of Division 25,

I am honored to be nominated as Member-at-Large for Division 25 of the American Psychological Association. I believe that my experience within our division, with APA, my current academic appointment, graduate training, and scholarly record will allow me to represent our membership. For six years I served as the Membership Chair for our division. During that time I forged positive relationships within division, as well as with other divisions of APA.

Currently, I am an assistant professor at Mercyhurst University, a private liberal arts institution, which provides Behavior Analytic training at the undergraduate and master’s level. Prior to my position at Mercyhurst, I earned my masters and PhD (2009) at the University of Florida and held a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Pittsburgh. I have maintained scholarly activities in areas of Behavioral Pharmacology and Decision Making, and regularly publish my work. If elected, I will represent the membership of our division in an informed and self-reflective manner. Thank you for your consideration.